Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Hello! This post is about our visit to Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

It was our second time visiting this Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Actually my husband was very surprised when I asked him to return to this place for the second time. All I can say that it is the most beautiful place in the UAE, one of the most beautiful temples where people can worship God. Inside the Mosque I felt very peacefully and calm. All people of Abu Dhabi are really lucky to have an opportunity to pray in such a beautiful Mosque.

So if you come to the United Arab Emirates, you have to visit this Mosque, which is the largest mosque in the UAE and the eighth largest mosque in the world. The mosque is large enough to accommodate over 40,000 worshipers. The main prayer hall can accommodate over 7,000 worshipers. But make sure you do not come on Friday or during Eid, because during the prayers visitors are not allowed to come inside. Thus you will have to wait till the prayer is finished.

If you are interested to have more detailed information about the Mosque, Islamic world or the United Arab Emirates you can visit Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center. We have not visited it, although I think we should have to.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) offices are located in the east minarets. SZGMC manages the day to day operations, as a place of worship and Friday gathering and also a center of learning and discovery through its educational cultural activities and visitor programs.

The library, located in the north/east minaret, serves the community with classic books and publications addressing a range of Islamic subjects: sciences, civilization, calligraphy, the arts, coins and includes some rare publications dating back more than 200 years. In reflection of the diversity of the Islamic world and the United Arab Emirates, the collection comprises material in a broad range of languages including Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Korean.

If you are a visitor you should enter the Mosque from the main entrance. There you will find a information upon the right way of being dressed in order to be allowed to walk around the Mosque or enter inside. If you wear European style cloth, most likely you will have to change and wear abaya due to the Mosque dress code.

After you change, just before the entrance to the Mosque you will need to remove your shoes, just like it is done at the entrances of all mosques around the world.

The design of the Mosque can be best described as a fusion of Arab, Mughal (the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan) and Moorish (the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco) architecture.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque's design and construction 'unites the world', using artisans and materials from many countries including Italy, Germany, Morocco, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and UAE.

One can feel that he is int the special place from the entrance of the Mosque. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has many special and unique elements, but the first thing all visitors notice are chandeliers. The Mosque has seven imported chandeliers from Germany that incorporate millions of Swarowski cristals. The largest chandelier is the second largest known chandelier inside a mosque.

The 99 names of Allah are featured on the Qibla wall in traditional Kufik calligraphy. In total, three calligraphy styles - Naskhi, Thuluth and Kufic – are used throughout the Mosque.

And if you take your time outside, walk near pools along the arcades that reflect the mosque's spectacular columns.

The Mosque becomes even more glorious at night. The unique lightning system was designed to reflect the phases of the moon. Beautiful lights reflected on the external walls get brighter and darker according to the phase of the moon.

There are so many things in this mosque that amaze me, and one of these things is its carpet in the main prayer hall. It is not only soft and very nice to step onto, but also very beautiful. I can literally stand and watch its patterns for hours.

The carpet in the main prayer hall is considered to be the world's largest carpet made by Iran's Carpet Company and designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi. This carpet measures 5,627 m2 (60,570 sq ft), and was made by around 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. The weight of this carpet is 35 ton and is predominantly made from wool (originating from New Zealand and Iran). There are 2,268,000,000 knots within the carpet and it took approximately two years to complete.